Smith Alumnae Book Club

The Book Club provides a friendly, open and inquiring setting for discussing various works of literature (both classic and contemporary). Meetings take place at 7:30 pm, generally on the third Wednesday of each month, at the homes of members. Any Smith alum is welcome, and you don’t have to “join”—just attend as often or as rarely as the meetings fit your interests and schedule. If you are interested in attending our meetings, please contact the Book Club Coordinator, Sally Smith, via email at thepeninsulasmithclub@gmail.com and she will add you to the email list.

Each month Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park carries our book selections in the Peninsula Smith Club section of their book club shelf. At the cash register, tell the clerk this is a Peninsula Smith Club purchase and you will receive a 15% discount.

We met at the home of Isabel Walker '57 SW to discuss “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance. Thanks to Isabel for your hospitality, and to the attendees who brought food and drink for our refreshments.

Everybody liked this book; we thought it was well written and easy to read, and appreciated Vance’s perceptiveness and insights, and felt he incorporated research well. Many aspects of the book came up in our discussion, including: the hillbilly culture — its persistence through generations, sense of honor, emphasis on family, social isolation, distrust of outsiders and particularly its contradictions; Vance’s remarkable grandmother; what happens when industries shut down and workers with limited skills cannot find new work; politics and the hillbillies; and the driving forces of Vance’s personal story of achievement.

Looking ahead, we chose “Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea’s Elite” by Suki Kim for our October book. So our upcoming lineup looks like this:

• July: no meeting• August 15: Movie Night: potluck and “The Lion in Winter.” The movie is based on a play of the same name by James Goldman, which is available at Kepler’s. • Sept. 12 (note date: we moved from the 3rd Wednesday due to Yom Kippur): “The Alice Network” by Kate Quinn. This bestseller, a blend of historical fiction and mystery, offers parallel stories of World War I spying and post-WWII sleuthing.• October 17: “Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea’s Elite” by Suki Kim. The Chicago Tribune said, “A deeply unsettling book, offering a rare and disturbing inside glimpse into the strangeness, brutality and claustrophobia of North Korea. … full of small observations that vividly evoke the paranoia and loneliness of a nation living in fear … tender and heartbreaking.”• November: note that we changed from the 3rd Wednesday to the 4th because of Thanksgiving, so we will be meeting on the 28th. The book has not yet been selected.